Photographer's Note

It is a very common practice in Southern India to serve food on banana leaves specially during weddings,festivals and other big functions.It is also to show respect to the guests mainly to the elders and make them feel at home. The leaf is washed before food is served.The food is eaten with fingers. Main food is rice, dhal(for protein), vegetables and sweets. Usually the food is served by clean clothed persons.

Not that extraordinay photography-wise, no technical wizzardry, etc. - but this IS a great shot. The topic shows a great slice of daily life and the timing is very good too, showing the boy's gesture and some interesting expressions on the other faces too.

Hello Lakshmi,
Thanks to this picture and your informative note, I learned something very interesting about the way people have their meals in India. The least I can say is that it is a very ecological practice and a good mean to save money and dishes. I see people eating with their right hand, what about the left-handers ? In France, you share a pleasant moment of conviviality when you sit in a cantine or a restaurant. In India, nobody has a front neighbour to talk to and eating seems to be just a formality.
Thanks for letting us know about the culture and the traditions of your country.
Regards,
Christian

gentle Lakshmi , another nice picture of daily life and habits in India, I have eaten many times in banana leaf and in my opinion is much better of paper plates, less polluting and more pleasant, nice shot, warm regards, Valter

Hello Lakshmi,
This photo brings me very strong memories from my first journey to India almost 40 years ago. I was a poor student travelling on a very tight budget, so in southern India "meals" was practically the only food I had, most of the times served on banana leaves. Then I got rather tired of it but returning many years later I realized how delicious this food could be, at least in slightly more upmarket restaurants.
So I watch this photo with great pleasure and enjoy the many fine details.
Kind regards,
Gert

namaste Lakshmi,
a nice daily life. So colourful, nice moody atmosphere. It was a very common scene of our state also though it is now obsolete in towns. Excellent presentation. Tfs.
Best wishes.
Subhendu

An excellent scene of life, well coloured nad rich in various details very well collected. But here, I like especially the expression and the attitude of the young boy very well collected.
Best regards,
Roger

Good day.
A very interesting moment of serving food to the list ...
The boy is happy and says that amount is pretty, beautiful images.
Good text and new information about a national custom, beautiful colors.
All the best in the new week, which has begun.
Paja.

Hello Lakshmi,
This is a very nice daily life scene. It is full of details that we can enjoy. I especially like the boy who is motioning that he has enough food on his banana leaf. :-) One man at the table is also looking right at you, and he doesn't seem very happy!

By the way, I sent you an e-mail recently, but I don't know if you received it with all of the TE problems. If you didn't, I will send it again.

Namaste Lakshmi,
with this photo you show us the tradition of serving the food on banana leaves, in a scene caught with great spontaneity and freshness.
I like the attitude of the boy who says "thanks, it's enough" with a very concise hand gesture, while the man serves him the food.
A good work with the light and with the quality of the colors, in a very sharp image.
Well done.
Best regards,
Josep

You're capturing well lunch scene by a good composition and excellent tone/clarity, so it's impressive and interesting to see traditional food style of south india. It's interesting in big banana leaf on plate and a wisdom for global environment.
And, you catch well the moment of people who hold out and wait to eat.

We used to wrap some of our foods with natural leaves, but unfortunately they are now replaced by plastic imitations. Here in the photo, the people are being served with genuine leaves. The image depicts skilfully a scene in which the people at a festivity wait patiently for their turn. The young gentleman is politely raising his hand and asking not to be served too much. This photo is like a group portrait. The diagonally positioned scene, from the upper right-hand corner down to the lower left-hand corner, the view flows very smoothly like the serving of the meals. You must have blended in with the group ever so naturally, the people’s acceptance can be well felt, this is a very nice daily life captured with very realistic eyes, and a very rare moment too. The atmosphere of the scene is nicely presented.

With my very best and kind regards,
Have a very pleasant evening, Lakshmi
Nobu.